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Thursday, April 12, 2012

Big Brother - Myth or Threat

Will security grow if you surrender
your freedom? 1984 is about the danger of governments becoming
totalitarian, and taking away your freedom, dignity and
individuality.

George Orwell had a vision – in 1948,
after seeing all sorts of horror in World War II, and the beginning
of the Cold War, he described a dystopia in the near future – the
worst society that can be imagined. He saw dictatorship that changes
history, individuals monitored 24h per day, and massive propaganda.

British first edition cover

Main character is Winston Smith, a
thirty-nine-year-old worker in the Ministry of Truth, and a (minor)
party member. After listening propaganda for his entire life, he
suddenly decides to write a diary, because he is filled with hatred
for totalitarian control and repression, and needs to put his
thoughts on paper, otherwise they will be forgotten.

„He who controls the past, controls
the future“ is the Party's slogan. This slogan provides Winston his
job, which is changing history by changing old newspaper records so
that they can match the new Party's policy. But this is probably the
reason why he realizes the truth and wants to do something about it.

Oceanian society is lead by the Party
that has absolute power over people and teritory. Party controls
minds of the Oceanian citizens, and they are under constant
surveillance. There are three states that control the world: Oceania,
Eurasia and Eastasia. Oceania is sometimes in war Eurasia and
sometimes with Eastasia. If Oceania changes it's foe, it's citizens
will have to forget about their previous war and think that they have
been in war with the same state from the start. Because „The
essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives,
but of the products of human labour. War is a way of shattering to
pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of
the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses
too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent.“

This ability to forget facts or to
make up the new ones, is called Doublethink.

In the center of society is Big
Brother. He is the ruler of Oceania, and the most important and most
trusted person in his country. His image haunts everyone's life –
it's on posters that say „Big Brother is watching you“, it's on
coins, book covers, telescreens in people's homes. Bur he never
appears in novel, like a real character; perhaps he doesn't even
exist. But he is a cult and a deified Party leader.

1984 descibes a manipuation of the
thoughts. If you don't think the way Party tells you, you will be
guilty for thoughtcrimes. You are tortured until you start convincing
yourself that they are right; then they will set you free so you can
tell everyone that you were guilty and admit many things that you
didn't actually commit. Then the Party can erase you from existence,
and no one will even remember you. Other citizens are convinced that
everything that Party does is for the sake of the greater good.The
political system in Oceania is called English Socialism –
Ingsoc. This might reffer to Stalinism.

Stalin with Nikolai Yezhov

Yezhov was edited out of the photo by Soviet censors

It controls life: „If you want a
picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face —
forever.“

Newspeak is the new language of Oceania
that is still developing. It's purpose is to decrease the number of
the words that should be used in speach and writing, which will also
narrow the range of the thoughts. The lack of vocabulary makes
conciousness a bare skelet with no ways to think more than you are
supposed to. Newspeak applies different meanings to things and
actions by referring only to the end to be achieved, not the MEANS of
achieving it. For example, Ministry of Peace (Minipax) deals with
war, and the Ministry of Love (Miniluv) deals with brainwashing and
torture. Peace is achieved through war, and love of Big Brother is
achieved through mind control.

The social class system of Oceania is
threefold (although it is called „socialism“):

Inner Party, the upper class and
the ruling minority

the middle-class Outer Party

the lower-class Proles (from
„proleteriat“
or working class), which is 85% of the population

In The Theory and Practice of
Oligarchical CollectivismEmmanuel
Goldsteinexplains how
these classes work: the goal of the upper class is to stay as the
ruling minority. The goal of the middle class is to change their
places with those who are the ruling minority. The goal of the Proles
is to make everyone equal without class system. Middle class needs to
make Proles fight on their side, claiming that they fight for freedom
and justice. When they win, they become the upper class, and the
previous upper class becomes a new middle class. Proles always stay
where they are. If the ruling class could know how to win against
enemies from the outsdie, if it could rule carefully and didn't let
masses to rebel, if it didn't let middle class to become strong
enough to rebel, and if it didn't lose it's confidence and will –
this type of ruling class could rule forever.

The society of
Airstrip One lives in ruined cities and towns, which are the
consequences of many wars. They got used to hunger, disease and
filth. The standard of living is very low, except for the ruling
class. Masses don't really realize that they are being exploited
before they are let to find a criteria to compare themselves with
others. If the ruling class doesn't let them develop their intelects,
masses can't think and decide. „To not think, means to be
ideologicaly correct“. The party uses patriotism as a way to
exploit masses, for example, to work longer.

With the Junior
Anti-Sex-League, the Party encourages its members to eliminate their
libido. Lack of sexuality leads to hysteria which can be transformed
into militancy and worshiping their leader.

Like many other
books that deal with dystopia and dictatorship, such as We (1924) and
Brave New World (1932), 1984 was considered intellectually dangerous
to the public, and even banned.

The
title of the novel indicates that the story represents a real
possibility: if totalitarianism is not opposed, some variation of the
world described in the novel could become a reality in the near
future.

Do you ask yourselves did Orwell miss by a few years, and are the situations and regime described in the book absent from modern day society, or are they more than ever present, but only subtle than in the George Orwell's novel?

„Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two
make four. If that is granted, all else follows.“

You can also check out an animated movie Metropia (2009), that will pretty much get you closer to understanding the treat to the society you currently live in.

4 comments:

That was actually shocking reading that, I had no idea such a book existed so many years ago, and the way the classes are described, it totally stands for the way will live today. Great post, I will definetely be reading that book.